Spiritual awakening is an explicit goal of 12-step recovery programs, which ask people seeking help with addiction to accept that a higher power exists.
For members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the higher power is Jesus Christ, and the church has updated the name of its 12-step program to reflect its view of his role in healing.
The program, now called “Healing through the Savior: The Addiction Recovery Program,” encourages participants to turn their hearts to Christ and seek greater connection with God and increased support from others, according to a news release drop.
The church also updated its 12-step recovery guide with the new name.
“Believe always increases our access to godly power,” Church President Russell M. Nelson said in 2021. “Faith in Jesus Christ is the greatest power available to us in this life.”
President Nelson, who was a pioneering heart surgeon in his early career, has called Jesus Christ the master healer. Christ himself said that he was sent “to heal the brokenhearted”, according to the Bible.
“Changing the name to focus more on Jesus Christ emphasizes the healing that comes through him and his atonement,” Blaine Maxfield, executive director of the church’s welfare and self-sufficiency services, said in the news release. “Although it may take time, it is possible to overcome trials and addictions through Jesus Christ. By participating in ‘Healing through the Savior: The Addiction Recovery Program,’ individuals can find hope, healing and strength to rebuild their lives by turning to the Savior.”
The 12-step program, run by Alcoholics Anonymous, states that “at times the alcoholic has no effective mental defense against the first drink. Except in a few rare cases, neither he nor any other human being can provide such a defense. His defense must come from a higher power.”
Studies have found that spiritual change, as measured by the Religious Background and Behavior self-report questionnaire, “predicted increased abstinence and decreased drinking intensity,” according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health.
The Latter-day Saint 12-step program is free and offers confidential recovery groups to the public through in-person or virtual meetings. The volunteer facilitators who lead the groups have often recovered from their own addiction-related challenges.
The groups provide a confidential network of support and the church provides additional online resources.
By 2023, the program facilitated addiction recovery meetings in 30 different countries and in 17 different languages.
Meeting times and meeting places are available at addictionrecovery.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
The site also includes stories of hope, videos and support group guides. It also provides podcasts of recorded meetings so interested parties can learn more about what a meeting is like.
“The Savior is very aware of all our trials and struggles,” Ben Erwin, a family therapist who directs the addiction recovery program, said in the release. “When we come together to support each other in overcoming this challenge through him, my experience is that he is right there with us.”
